Norman Bates

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Psycho character
Norman Bates
Aliases	"Norma" Bates, "Normal" Bates
Gender	Male
Born	May 19, 1935
Died	December 11, 1992
Race	European American
Relationships	Mrs. Norma Bates (mother) Mrs. Emma Spool (aunt) John Bates (father) Dr. Constance "Connie" Forbes-Bates(wife)
Enemies	Women
M.O.	Stabbing victims to death while wearing his mother's clothing.
Weapon of Choice:	Kitchen knife
Portrayed by:	Anthony Perkins (Psycho - Psycho IV: The Beginning) Oz Perkins (Psycho II, reflection) Kurt Paul (Bates Motel) Henry Thomas (Psycho IV: The Beginning, flashbacks) Ryan Finnigan (Psycho IV: The Beginning, flashbacks) Vince Vaughn (Psycho: 1998 remake)

Norman Bates is a fictional character created by writer Robert Bloch as the central character in his novel Psycho. The character is based on real-life serial killer Ed Gein.^[1][2][3]

Contents 1 Fictional character biography 2 Film sequels 3 Characterization 4 Portrayals 5 Comic books 6 Reception 7 References

[edit] Fictional character biography

Both the novel and Alfred Hitchcock's 1960 film adaptation explain that Bates suffers severe emotional abuse as a child at the hands of his mother, Norma, who preaches to him that sex is evil and that women (except herself) are whores. The two of them live alone together in an unhealthy state of emotional dependence after the death of Bates's father. When Bates is a teenager, his mother takes a lover, making him insanely jealous. Bates then murders both of them with strychnine and preserves his mother's corpse. Bates develops dissociative identity disorder, assuming his mother's personality, repressing her death as a way to escape the guilt of murdering her. He inherits his mother's house, where he keeps her corpse, and the family motel in Fairvale, California.

Bloch sums up Bates' multiple personalities in his stylistic form of puns: "Norman", a child dependent on his mother; "Norma", a possessive mother who kills anyone who threatens the illusion of her existence; and "Normal", a (barely) functional adult who performs the functions of day-to-day life.

Bates is finally arrested after he murders a young woman named Mary Crane (called Marion Crane in the film) and Milton Arbogast, a private investigator sent to look for her. Bates is declared insane and sent to an institution, where the "mother" personality completely takes hold; he essentially becomes his mother.

Bates dies in Bloch's 1982 sequel to his novel.^[4]

[edit] Film sequels

In the sequel to the original film, Bates is released from the institution 22 years later, seemingly cured, and he meets Mary Loomis whom he falls in love with. However, a series of mysterious murders occurs, as well as strange appearances and messages from "Mother", and Norman slowly loses his grip on sanity. The mysterious appearances and messages turn out to be a plot by Lila Loomis, a relative of Marion Crane who was Bates' victim in the original film. She wants to drive him insane again in order to get him recommitted as she hasn't forgiven him for murdering her sister. The actual murders turn out to be the work of his aunt—Norma's sister, Emma Spool—who shares the family's history of mental illness and claims to be Norman's real mother. Before Norman discovers this though, Mary Loomis gets shot dead by the police during a confrontation with Norman, and Lila is murdered by Spool. When Spool does tell Norman the truth about being his mother he kills her and embalms her body while assuming the "Mother" personality once again.^[5]

In the third film, Norman continues to struggle, unsuccessfully, against "Mother"'s dominion. He also finds another love interest named Maureen Doyle. In the film Mrs. Spool's body is first discovered by sleazy musician Duane Duke whom Norman kills when Duke tries to use the discovery to get a payoff from Bates. Finally Spool is found by nosey reporter Tracy Venable. "Mother" orders Norman to kill Venable, but in the end he attacks "Mother"'s corpse violently, attempting to break free of her control, as well as getting revenge as "Mother" killed Maureen. He is again institutionalized. During the last few minutes of the movie, the reporter tells Norman that Emma Spool was his aunt, not his mother, and had killed his father. Apparently, she had fallen for Norman's father and, when Norma Bates had given birth to Norman, kidnapped the child, believing he was her son.^[6] Norman is then sent back to the institution.

In the final sequel, however, the revelations of Psycho III are effectively retconned. (Bates' father is explained as having been stung to death by bees). In this film, Bates had been released from the institution, and is married to one of the hospital's nurses. When his wife becomes pregnant, however, he lures her to his mother's house and tries to kill her; He wants to prevent another of his "cursed" line from being born into the world. (The film implies that Bates' mother suffered from schizophrenia and passed the illness on to him). He relents at the last minute, however, when his wife professes her love for him. He then burns the house down in an attempt to free himself of his past. During the attempt, he is tormented by hallucinations of "Mother" and several of his (or her) victims; He almost dies in the flames before willing himself to get out, apparently defeating his illness at long last.^[7]

In the pilot episode of the failed TV series Bates Motel, Bates is never released from the institution after his first incarceration. He befriends Alex Kelly, a fellow inmate who had murdered his stepfather, and wills ownership of the titular motel to him before dying of old age.^[8]

[edit] Characterization

The characterization of Bates in the novel and the movie differ in some key areas. In the novel, Bates is in his mid-to-late 40s, short, overweight, homely, and more overtly unstable. In the movie, he is in his early-to-mid-20s, tall, slender, and handsome. Reportedly, when working on the film, Hitchcock decided that he wanted audiences to be able to sympathize with Bates and genuinely like the character, so he made him more of a "boy next door."^[9] In the novel, Norman becomes Mother after getting drunk and passing out; in the movie, he consumes no alcohol before switching personalities.

[edit] Portrayals

Bates was portrayed by Anthony Perkins in Hitchcock's seminal 1960 film adaptation of Bloch's novel and its three sequels. He also portrayed Norman Bates, albeit more lightheartedly, in a 1990 oatmeal commercial.^[10] Vince Vaughn portrayed Bates in Gus Van Sant's 1998 remake, while Kurt Paul took on the role in Bates Motel. Henry Thomas played a younger version of the character in Psycho IV: The Beginning.

[edit] Comic books

Norman appears in the 1992 three-issue comic book adaptation of the first Psycho film released by Innovation Publishing. Despite being a colorized adaptation of the Hitchcock film, the version of Norman present in the comics resembles the one from Bloch's original novel: an older, overweight, balding man. Comic artist Felipe Echevarria has explained that this was due to Perkins' refusal to allow his likeness to be replicated for the books, wanting to disassociate himself with Norman Bates.^[11]

[edit] Reception

Norman Bates is ranked as the second greatest villain on the American Film Institute's list of the top 100 film heroes and villains.^[12] His line "A boy's best friend is his mother" also ranks as number 56 on the institute's list of the 100 greatest movie quotes.^[13]

[edit] References

v • d • e Psycho series Robert Bloch's novels Psycho · Psycho II · Psycho House Films Psycho · Psycho II · Psycho III · Psycho IV: The Beginning · Psycho remake · Alfred Hitchcock and the Making of Psycho Cast Anthony Perkins  · Janet Leigh  · Vera Miles Other Bates Motel · Robert Bloch's Psychos · Norman Bates · Norma Bates · Emma Spool